The Signer Knights
by Gryffindor-RikkuChan
Summary: The lives of two farm girls change forever when they join the Knights of the Stars to defeat the Knights of the Earthbound Immoral. AY JC COC
1. Prologue

Hello, everyone, here is my first solo Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's story. First off, I know that Yusei's dad does die in the series, but since the story takes place in a medieval setting, something turned his father to stone instead. Most reference will come from the Dark Signers arc from the anime series. But if there's anything I missed, let me know.

Summary: During a dueling tournament held by King Rex Goodwin, the lives of young farm girls, Akiza Izinski and Hikari Ayamani, change forever when they meet Sir Yusei Fudo, Sir Jack Atlas, nobles Luna and Leo, and Sir Crow Hogan as they become part of the Knights of the Stars. Their homeland becomes threatened as a evil group of knight, known as the Knights of the Earthbound Immoral, gains power to bring forth the King of the Netherworld. Could a poor farm girl fall for a knight who holds a deeper secret than they know?

Pairings: Akiza x Yusei, Luna x OC, Jack x Carly, Crow x OC, Leo x OC

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's is property of its rightful owners, original characters, plot, and storyline belong to me.

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><p>Prologue<p>

The brightness of the stars above twinkled, as a cloaked figure walked through the forest that surrounded the village of the Satellite in the old Domino Kingdom. The figure reached a small orphanage in the village, lowering the hood, the figure was revealed to be a beautiful young woman with long silvery hair and deep sea blue eyes. Walking up to the door of the orphanage, the woman knocked on the door gently and it opened to reveal the orphanage caretaker, an older woman.

"Yes, may I help you?" she asked, the woman asked, "Is your name Martha, the caretaker of this orphanage?"

"Yes, it is. What can do I for you?" She asked. The woman gave her a bundle of white clothes, "Please take care of this child. His family was killed and he has no other relatives. His name is Yusei Fudo. Please take care of him." Without another word, she left with Maria in confusion. After a few minutes, Martha looked inside the bundle and gasped, within the bundle was a baby boy.

With a smile, Martha took him inside the orphanage and called him by the name woman gave, Yusei. Meanwhile, the young woman walked to a crumbling castle farther within the old Domino Kingdom. Pushing some stones and rocks aside, the woman found what she was looking for. Standing in front of her was a stone statue of a man with spiky hair; he had a look of solemn sadness and was reaching into the distance. With a sad look, the woman walked up to the statue and placed her hand on the outstretched hand of the statue. She looked toward the face of the statue and sighed.

"This price is what you had to pay for the life of your own child… Toya….."

"Either way, New Domino Kingdom is without a king, and we can't have that," a man's voice said, the woman looked behind her and found a young man standing there. He smiled, walking up and picking up a jeweled crown that near the statue's feet. The woman gasped and shouted, "You are going to rule New Domino Kingdom in King Toya Fudo's place, Sir Rex Goodwin?"

"Yes, Toya would have wanted me to rule in his place if anything happened to him, Lady Angela." Rex said, looking at the woman named Angela. However, Angela could see past the smile Rex was giving her, as if he was hiding a dark secret within it. However, she simply accepted him as the new king and continued her duties as the high priestess of the kingdom.

Over the next seventeen years, New Domino Kingdom was divided by its people, Angela sadly watched as the nobles disrespected the commoners, but there was nothing she could do expect look for the remaining carriers of the marks that Rex and his adopted son, Prince Jack Atlas, has carried on their right arms. Within one of the many villages of New Domino Kingdom, there lived two girls who were considered sisters since early childhood.

Both daughters of local farmers, the two girls weren't exactly stunning beautiful, but they had a sense of inner beauty radiated within. One had chin length burgundy hair with bangs framed her face while her front bangs were held up on her head and bright brown eyes. The other had straight light blue hair and deep emerald green eyes. Their names were Akiza Izinski and Hikari Ayamani.

Hikari was the studious one while Akiza preferred gardening, especially roses. Having born as commoners, Hikari and Akiza were often looked down upon, but the two retained their friendship and sisterly relationship, both having hope that the dictator-like rule would be lifted. Often Akiza and Hikari would be in their village's central fountain, Hikari would tell stories to the little children while Akiza would try to sell her roses to the villagers. Since the two were so close, Hikari knew two of Akiza's deepest secrets, she had a special power that could sometimes get out of control and a unique birthmark on her right arm. One day while walking through the village, the two saw a notice that King Rex Goodwin had announced a dueling tournament.

"We should enter, Aki. Anyone who can duel is allowed to enter the tournament, and since we can both duel….." Hikari smiled as Akiza sighed, "Alright, Kari. Who know what will happen?" As they left, Akiza felt they were being watched and turned to see who was behind them, but saw nothing more than a single rose petal. Akiza was scared and wondered who that was when Hikari called out her name. She ran and joined her friend.

Angela appeared after the two vanished the area, somehow she was still retaining her young youthful appearance. She tore the notice down without even looking at it, she said, "A tournament that will be changing point in your life, Akiza, Hikari. I hope you two will be well prepared." She disappeared with the softest gust of wind.

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><p>Please, R&amp;R. Give me your honest review on it. Next chapter: Official introduction to Prince Jack Atlas, Sir Yusei Fudo, and Sir Captain Crow Hogan, King Rex's intentions of the hosting the tournament to Prime Minister Lazar, the opening of the dueling tournament with the official introduction of Lady Luna and Lord Leo, and the first match: Lady Luna vs. mine digger Grieger.<p> 


	2. Opening Day

Hello, everyone! The new chapter is up! Please, don't hurt me, but... Leo cross-dresses in this chapter! -cowers behind a umbrella- The reason this chapter was delayed was I needed to figure how to do Leo's deck due to the setting. X# Though I am glad that you know what Akiza and Hikari will wear, Hikari's deck is a Water and Light themed deck. Also, I improvised Crow being in the tournament. Characters belong to Tokyo TV, Hikari, Angela, plot, story belong to me. No stealing!

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><p>Chapter 1 Opening Day<p>

It was the day of the tournament, and to say Prince Jack Atlas was ready would have been an understatement. Prince Jack Atlas was a tall, muscular, and handsome young man, he had short blond hair and striking purple eyes. He was more determined to win than ready, after running away from the Satellite village in the old Domino Kingdom due to the advice of Prime Minister Lazar; Jack became prince of New Domino Kingdom with the story that King Rex adopted him to be his heir to the throne. Standing on the balcony of his room as the morning sun crept over the horizon, Jack took a look at his right arm. A red mark that looked like a set of wings was on his arm, it had been there for as long as he could remember. As memories of his past life as a simple unworthy commoner filled his mind, Jack shook his head, trying to leave the past in the past. As far as he was concerned, he was no longer a pauper who dreamed of being in New Domino Kingdom, he now was the heir of the throne of New Domino Kingdom.

His personal servant, Mina, entered his room, she said, "The king requests your presence, Jack." Mina was once a farm girl who worked for the palace's gardener, but when Jack appeared two years ago, she was immediately made into his servant, with her only duties being to serve him, make him happy, and tell him when the king wanted to see him. Mina had short dark blue hair and bright amber brown eyes.

"With all due respect to King Rex, I'd like to visit the docks first." Jack said, putting on his royal white robes over the silver armor on his body. He left the room, passing her and heading for the stables. Calmly he led out a white mustang and got on it, gently grabbing the reins and riding to the docks. He wasn't surprised to see another man waiting at the docks. Sitting upon a red stallion, this man had spiky black hair with yellow highlights and bright blue eyes. Under his left eye was a yellow jagged mark, he wore silver armor like Jack's, and however his armor had amber stones at the joints. At his hip was a sword with the handle encrusted with sapphires, Jack's sword handle was encrusted with rubies.

Placing his horse beside the man's, Jack simply stared at the vast ocean as the man was doing. "May I ask what you are doing here, Sir Yusei Fudo?" Jack asked suddenly. "Checking the docks," he said simply, before turning to Jack. "What are you doing here, your royal highness?" "I've come to meet an old friend of ours, that's all." Jack said with a smile, Yusei looked away and pulled his horse to the side, going somewhere else and leaving Jack alone. The wind softly blew as Jack seemed to wait for a certain ship. He smiled as he saw the silhouette of a ship sailing to the docks, trying to find a familiar figure on the deck of the ship. After awhile, the ship docked and a new figure appeared, shouting at Jack, "Hey there!"

The voice belonged to a young man who had wild dark orange hair and light gray eyes. He wore a plain white dress shirt with a brown sleeveless vest over it; on his hands were light gray gloves, light green trousers and brown boots. Like Yusei, he had yellow marks on his face. Two jagged lines were under his eyes while on his forehead was an m with a dot next to it. Wrapped around his forehead, just above the m, was a dark green headband. On his shoulders, elbows and knees were silver pieces of armor.

"Crow, it's been too long." Jack said, smiling. Crow smiled back and said, "That should be Sir Captain Crow Hogan to you, your royal highness." Jack shook his head, Crow, who once lived in the Satellite village with Jack and Yusei, left after becoming a knight to help those in need over the water. He obtained a ship, became captain with the crew he hired and became the first knight from Satellite to sail the seas while having two criminal marks on his face. He grabbed the reins of his black mustang and walked down the ramp. Once he was on the dock, he mounted his horse and looked at Jack, "See you at the arena, huh?" Jack simply nodded as he watched Crow ride to the arena and followed.

Meanwhile back at the castle, in the king's room, King Rex Goodwin stared at a portrait of the past king. Over the past seventeen years, his hair had become light gray while his eyes remained a light blue eye, the jeweled crown rested promptly on his head while he wore light blue robes with a dark gray cape that had the image of a bird on it, but the cape hid the left side of his body. His prime minister, Lazar, stepped into the room; Lazar had light pink hair with light violet eyes. Lazar wore a dark red coat over a white shirt, light gray pants and black boots. He looked at Rex and bowed, "Your majesty, Sir Yusei has arrived at the arena. But before we head there, may I ask why you are holding a tournament now?"

"The high priestess, Angela, would have a difficult time trying to find the rest of the Signers on her own by simply using visions and wandering the villages. So I decided to make it easier for her was to create a tournament which the remaining Signers would enter and we would find them. When their marks start to glow, I will use the power of the 5th Sign to call forth the Crimson Dragon to give the Signers the powers of the knights who once controlled their Dragons." Rex explained to Lazar, touching his left side. "Come, we mustn't be late for the opening of the tournament." They left, before Rex left the room, he turned back to the portrait then left the room.

The arena that built for the dueling tournament was parked with the commoners and nobles who chose not to sign up, normally the two classes were often at each others' throats for taxes and harvest, but today they chose to mingle as the competitors who signed up came from both classes. Hikari tried to not show she was shaking nervously, but Aki smiled and calmed her down by grabbing her hand. Looking around, the two friends rather stuck out from the rest. Akiza wore a plain white sleeveless dress underneath a red traveling cloak, holding the cloak and the dress together was a dark red sash with yellow lining, on her wrists were black gauntlets from an old suit of armor she found, around her right arm was a bandage to hide her mark, and wore red boots on her feet.

Hikari also wore a white sleeveless dress with a light brown cloak, holding hers in place was a light blue sash with black lining; her gauntlets were a light violet color with a dark red lining, around her neck was a necklace with a sapphire pendant; her boots were white with a dark gray lining. Her hair was up in a braid, and though Akiza didn't understand why, at Hikari's left hip was an empty black sword sheath. But neither of them knew how to wield or fight with a sword, but both of them had a holder on their sashes for their decks. Akiza sighed and looked at Hikari, whispering, 'It is okay, I'm here with you.'

With a smile, the two friends scooped out the competition. There was an investigator who wore the disguise of a farmer; a professor dressed in his finest clothes, a young girl who dressed in the clothes of a noble, the prince himself dressed in silver armor, a knight with a criminal mark as well as a ship captain with criminal marks, a muscular man with a dark tan, a man in a dark cloak, a cocky man who was dressed as a hunter, and another knight in gold armor. While Hikari was eyeing the knight and the captain, Akiza kept her eyes on the young girl and the knight. The two friends thought that the knight and the captain seemed different from what they appeared, though they had criminal marks on their faces. Akiza wondered why such a young girl was taking part of the tournament and sighed when there was silence in the arena.

In the royal box seat, King Rex stood up and said, "Welcome, everyone, to the first dueling tournament in memory of the previous king, Toya. I will like to thank all the people who chose to partake in this tournament. Let me take the moment to remind the competitors that everyone is equal here. Also, the rewards will be picked based on who will win the tournament. If the winner is a young woman, she will have the honor of being the prince's bride, however if the winner is a young man, he and the prince will begin the dance of the grand ball tomorrow. Now our loyal and faithful high priestess, Angela, will choose the duels of the first round. Lady Angela….." He turned behind him to reveal Angela sitting calmly in her seat with her eyes closed. Silence hung in the air as everyone waited for her to announce the first rounds duel.

"The first round duels are: Lady Luna against the mine digger Greiger, Sir Yusei Fudo against the hunter Pace, farm girl Akiza Izinski against Sir Gill Randsborg, farm girl Hikari Ayamani against Sir Captain Crow Hogan, and the professor Frank against the investigator Koda. May each duel go well." The crowd cheered as the competitors headed for the rooms picked for them to prepare for their duel. In the room picked for Lady Luna, she sighed and spoke in a boy's voice, "Man, how does Luna breathe in this thing?"

"Well, excuse me, Leo!" A young girl's voice shouted, Leo turned and jumped at the sight of a girl who looked like him, wearing a brown cloak over her body. She shouted again, "You better make sure you act like me out there, Leo." Scared, Leo nodded, though Luna was the one who was invited to duel, for some reason, she didn't want to and Leo took her place. "Not to worry, sis. Everything's going to be alright. Trust me." Luna didn't look so sure, and left. Leo sighed and got ready for his duel.

Meanwhile in the room picked out for the commoners, Akiza and Hikari were discussing what cards Hikari would use in her duel against Sir Captain Crow Hogan. "What am I going to do? I don't even know what kind of deck he has, Aki." Hikari said. Aki sighed and said, "It's okay. I know you will do fine, but there's something about that Sir Yusei. I don't know what." "Oh, fallen for a knight, have we?" Hikari said, a sly grin on her face, Akiza blushed and shouted at her, "No, of course not. Besides, the fact he is a knight means that he's a noble. There's no way he would fall for a poor farm girl like me. He would go for a noblewoman. And on top of that, I'm just a avenge girl."

"So what? Aki, I can tell you now that will be a connection deeper than you know between you and him, like there's a connection between you and me. But this connection will be much different." Hikari had taken her hands into her own as she said this and smiled, Akiza smiled and nodded.

The time came for the first duel, and the two duelists came into the arena. Luna was the right side of the field, while her opponent, who everyone figured to be Greiger, was on the left side. "It is a honor to duel you, my lady," Greiger said with a bow, Luna smiled and gave a curtsy, "Likewise, may the best duelist win."

Suddenly, the duelists held out their arms as the gauntlets on theirs wrists glowed, showing the number on them, and their hands were filled with the cards they had drawn as the duel started. Greiger shouted, "First, I play the magic card, Star Blast. I pay 500 of my DP to reduce the level of one of my monsters and summon this monster, Summon Knight SK. I set a card facedown and end my turn" A knight in brown armor appeared on Greiger's side of the field, and the number on Greiger's gauntlet changed from 8000 to 3500.

Luna looked at his field and looked at her hand before shouting, "I play this monster, Morphtronic Warrior." A warrior appeared on her side of the field, just then the number on her gauntlet changed as well, changing from 8000 to 3200, Luna simply ignored this and shouted, "I activate my monster's effect, and summon Morphtronic Box Warrior in a defense position." A new warrior appeared and knelt down on a knee with its arms across its face. "I also set a card facedown and end my turn." The crowd was silent while Greiger studied his opponent.

After a moment of silence, Greiger shouted, "I play Trap Reactor Y FI in attack position and have him attack your Morptronic Warrior." A new knight appeared on Greiger's side of the field, but he didn't see Luna smirk, she shouted, "I activate the trap card, Morphtransition. This negates your attack and switches my Warrior into defense position." As the warrior knelt down, the number on her gauntlet changed again, lowering to 2400. Greiger spoke again, "I have Summon Knight SK attack your Morphtronic Box Warrior." As the other knight was about to attack, Luna shouted, "I use Morphtronic Box Warrior's effect to negate your attack."

"That allows me to play the trap card, Damage Summon. I pay 800 Duel Points to Special Summon Spell Knight・RE" from my hand. Now, attack, Spell Knight and destroyed Morphtronic Box Warrior!" The newly appeared knight obeyed the order and slashed at Luna's warrior, the warrior destroyed in a instant. "I set one card facedown and end my turn," Greiger said as the number on his gauntlet changed to 2,700.

Luna looked at her hand, there was a Morphtronic Soldier, a Armored Fighter, a Twister and a Magical Mallet. Closing her eyes, Luna drew a card, then spoke "I use the Defense Position effect of Morphtronic Warrior to check the top cards of my Deck. Next, I switch it to Attack Position and use its other effect to Special Summon Morphtronic Gladiator". As a new armored warrior appeared on her field, the number on her gauntlet changed to 1,600, Luna said, "I now tribute Morphtronic Warrior to inflict 600 damage to you, Greiger." The number on Greiger's gauntlet to 2,100 as Luna said, "Now I tribute Morphtronic Gladiator to bring Armored Fighter. I now use its effect, by discarding Morphtronic Soldier to increase its ATK by 800. Now I play Factory of 100 Warriors, which allows me to remove from play all the Morphtronics in my Graveyard to increase its power by 200 for each."

Once again, the number on her gauntlet changed to 800, the total power of Armored Fighter became 2,900. "Now, Armored Fighter, attack Trap Reactor・Y FI." Luna said with confidence because she knew the difference between the two monsters' scores is exactly equal to Greiger's current Duel Points. But Greiger shouted, "I activate Delta Trap, and send my monsters to the Graveyard to Special Summon Flying Fortress SKY FIRE." "I end my turn." Luna said.

As she spoke, Greiger discarded the card in his hand to activate Flying Fortress SKY FIRE's effect, and the remaining monster on Luna's field, Armored Fighter was destroyed. With no other obstacles in the way, he attacked her directly and the number on her gauntlet went to zero. It was apparent that Greiger had won, but the crowd cheered at the two. Turning on his heel, Greiger left the arena and headed for the room he had been in earlier, but he met with Angela, he was surprised to see her, but told her something that was on his mind during the duel, "It seemed that I was dueling against a boy instead." "Indeed." Angela said, placing her hand on both sides of his head, giving him an image of Luna and a boy who looked like her. "The noble lady Luna has a twin brother, the noble lord Leo."

Meanwhile in the royal box seat, Goodwin sat on his throne with a small smirk, quite impressed. During the duel, Angela mentioned she had felt something in the audience. He whispered, 'Now to find the other three…..'

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><p>Oh my gosh, what is he thinking? Cliffhanger! Next chapter: Yusei encourage Leo on his loss, then meets with Akiza (and almost shares a kiss (OoO)), Akiza prepares with more of Hikari's encourage with words from a popular song, Gill Randsborg's talk with Rex, then Angela talks with him on the purpose of the tournament, Akiza vs Gill, and more hints of Yusei x Akiza.<p>

Also, I have a idea of this adorable 'what if', here's the info: 'Love in Bloom_**-**_On the day of her powers awakening, Akiza met a lost young boy named Yusei from Satellite and the two became close friends. For years, Akiza thought of their relationship as brother and sister, but when they are picked as competitors for Fortune Cup and they are revealed to be Signers with Jack Atlas and Luna, Akiza begins to wonder if there is more to their relationship.' Here what inspired me:

http:/ /i979. photobucket. com/ albums/ ae272/ YUGIOH_ 5DS/ Couples/ Aki% 20x% 20Yusei/7481 4fb54d7 75470 39b2a 4258b 4695bf. jpg

http:/ /i979. photobucket. com/ albums/ ae272/ YUGIOH_ 5DS/ Couples/ Aki% 20x% 20Yusei/ 4 yu- aki. jpg

Tell me if I should write and R&R the chapter!


	3. Darkened Blooms

Finally, I finished this chapter! Life kept knocking and my mind was raking so hard about how to do Turbo Duels in this story considering the setting. Anyway, this is the duel between Akiza and Gil. I tried to keep it in close to the episode as possible. Characters belong to TV Tokyo and their rightful creators, any OCs, story, and plot belong to me.

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><p>Chapter 2 Darkened Blooms<p>

In the hallway after the duel, Leo was back in his normal noble clothes and was crying at his loss. Luna, who had watched the match from the private viewing room for nobles, smiled, happy at her brother's attempt to duel, another young noble, Dexter, who had short light brown hair and light brown eyes, as well as Yusei were with him and Luna, cheering him up from his loss. Looking up at Yusei, Leo sniffed and said, "Sorry, Yusei, that I lost. I wanted to show you how good of a duelist I was." "It's alright, Leo. I'm sure someday that this experience proof itself useful to you in the future." Yusei said, smiling as he patted the young noble's head. Leo's face suddenly brightened up with a smile and he hugged Yusei, saying, "Win your match for me, Yusei."

Yusei smiled and nodded, holding the young noble close when voices could be heard, the owners of the voices came into view, it was the farm girls, Hikari and Akiza. Hikari said, "You better hurry to your match, Aki! I'll be cheering for you!" "I know, Kari, but I can't exactly get there with you clinging to me like this." Akiza said, a bit concerned and trying to walk to her match. However, Akiza tripped over a small stone and began to fall, but someone quick caught her before she hit the ground. Since Akiza had closed her eyes, she opened them and found that Yusei had caught her. Quickly, Akiza's face went deep red and she bolted out of his arms, heading to her match, Hikari shouted in worry, following her best friend, "Aki!" "What's her problem?" Leo asked, confused. Yusei didn't show it, but he smiled at the girl's little embarrassment or so he thought.

Hikari stopped Akiza and smiled, she pulled her into a hug, "Be careful out there. And win, fairly... Also, never forget..." She whispered something soft in her ear and smiled, Akiza smiled and nodded, then headed out to the arena. Hitting her cheeks in reassurance and putting a determined look on her face, Hikari headed for the commoner's booth to cheer Akiza on while Yusei and the young nobles headed for the twins's private booth.

Meanwhile, in the royal box seat, Angela had come with the golden armor knight from the opening ceremony. She said, "King Goodwin, the knight, Gill Randsborg, here to speak with you as you requested." "Thank you, Angela." Rex said, smiling as he turned to look at them. Angela simply gave a custry and went to her seat. Rex walked up to Gil as he spoke, "The young farm girl, Akiza Izinski, who you will fight in this match is a Signer. I would like you to duel her to confirm." "So, will you act as the kingdom's hound for this?" Lazar asked the golden knight who had no loyalty to any noble, lord, or even the king.

"My apologizes, my king, but I do not duel to act as a dog in order to hunt young maidens." The knight said, looking proud and showed his shield. Lazar gave a small chuckle while Rex just smiled, he said, "She is more than a mere young maiden. In her past, she was known as the Black Rose Witch. The innocent farm girl act is a ruse to make people divert from the truth. When she dueled, her duels were so real it terrorized the town." Their words did the trick as Gil looked shocked at the revelation, Lazar said, "You may still withdraw the duel, as dueling her is a duel for one's very life."

"No, a knight does not back down from a challenge! I will beat and slay this witch!" Gil said, drawing his sword and lifting it in the air. Angela ignored them and hoped that the secret power in Akiza won't be awoken during the duel. But she spoke to him in a gentle manner, "But please, don't provoke her. She has long forgotten that part of her life and this tournament is only to find the remaining Signers." "I promise to do so, my lady," Gil said, bowing at her and left the room.

Grieger joined Yusei in the twin's noble private box. And then the time for the duel to begin, Akiza took a breath and stepped out as Gil did. When Akiza appeared, the people began to murmur among themselves, which Hikari ignored. She didn't notice a cloaked figure standing in the box, smiling as he waited for the duel. In the twins' private box, Leo looked at them and said, "I'm sure I have seen that girl before, even long before the meeting in the hallway." "Her deck is secretly in pain..." Luna said softly.

"I will show you no mercy, maiden!" Gil shouted, as he and Akiza did the same as Luna and Grieger in the previous duel, holding out their gauntlet arms as the number appeared then as quick as lighting, their hands were filled with their first picked duel cards. Gil started the duel as he shouted, "I summon Masked Knight LV 3, in attack position!" A knight with a mask appeared on the field, Gil continued, "I use it's effect. Give the maiden 400 points of damage!"

The knight swung its sword firecly and fast as Akiza braced herself for the attack, noting that the 4000 dropped down to 3600. Gil had chosen to forbid himself from attacking with "Masked Knight LV3" during his turn, surprising Akiza. Randsborg shouted, "I activate 'Level Up!'" Hikari gasped as she watched him send his Masked Knight LV3 to the Graveyard and Special Summoned "Masked Knight LV5", a knight that looked more powerful than his previous one appeared in Attack Position, while ignoring the summoning conditions. "My masked knight, activate your effect and inflict 1000 points of damage on the maiden!"

Akiza gasped, bracing herself again as the knight attacked her and her 3600 dropped to 2600 on her gauntlet. Smiling, Randsborg said, "I set a card and end my turn." Akiza glared at her opponent and tried to carefully think about her first moves for the duel. Hikari watched and prayed that Akiza wouldn't go crazy and unleash her power during her turn.

Drawing her first card, Akiza found that she drew the spell field card, 'Black Garden', she shouted, "I summon 'Wall of Ivy' in Defense Position." As she spoke, a wall of ivy appeared on her field and turned to blue, Akiza spoke again, "Now I activate the Spell Card, 'Seed of Deception,' which allows me to special summon a Level 2 or lower Plant-Type monster from my hand, so I special summon Copy Plant from my hand." The plant appeared on her field, Hikari watched carefully as Akiza activated her Copy Plant's effect to change it from a Level 1 monster to a Level 5, copying Masked Knight LV5's level. As she watched the moves, Hikari knew what was coming next.

"Now I combine my Copy Plant and Wall of Ivy to synchro summon the most fearsome creature in my deck, Black Rose Dragon!" Akiza shouted as her two monsters vanished and a large dragon with a body of thorns and wings of rose petals appeared, it roared loudly. From the twins' royal box, Yusei looked in awe at the newly summoned dragon, he asked, "What is that?" "It is said that the Black Rose Dragon is a creature of ill omen that causes destruction and ruin everywhere. Though you seem familiar with the dragon." Grieger said, having joined them in the box and looked at Yusei. "It's nothing." Yusei said, looking away, though he didn't say that he had seen it in a vision.

Akiza shouted, "And I activate my Black Rose Dragon's effect and destroy all the cards on the field!" The Black Rose Dragon roared and glowed as everything on the field was destroyed. "Now I activate Field Spell, 'Black Garden'. With this card in play, all monster summoned other than by the effect of Black Garden will have their ATK halved and a Rose Token will be summoned to the controller's opponent's side of the field." Hikari knew that Akiza could destroy her field spell and any monsters on the field to special summon a monster whose ATK was equal or loss to the total ATK of the destroyed monsters as black thorns appeared around the field.

Drawing a new card for his turn, Randsborg looked at his hand, which contained his newly drawn 'Martyr's Flag', 'The Warrior Returning Alive', 'Pot of Avarice', and 'Level Change'. Picking a card, Randsborg said, "I activate the effect of the card 'The Warrior Returning Alive' to add the 'Masked Knight LV3' from the Graveyard to my hand." Then he summoned the 'Masked Knight LV3' back onto the field, but due to the effect of Akiza's Black Garden, his Masked Knight's 1500 ATK points were halved to 750 and smiled as a small rose bud, assumed to be a Rose Token, was special summoned onto Akiza's side of the field. "Now, Masked Knight LV3, activate your effect and take away the maiden's life points by 400!"

After Akiza braced herself when the attack happened, she didn't mind her life points dropping to 2200. "I activate my face-down, 'Doppleganger'." She said, then went to explain her card's effect. "Now, whenever I receive damage through a monster's effect, you will take the same amount of damage." 'That's my girl.' Hikari thought to herself as she watched the duel and knew that since Akiza just took damage through Randsborg's monster's effect, he now took the same amount of damage as he watched in shock of his 4000 Life Points drop to 3600. "Just a scratch, I set two cards and I end my turn." Randsborg said, setting two cards on the field and glared at Akiza.

Drawing at the start of her turn, Akiza shouted, revealing her card, "I activate the spell card, 'Mark of the Rose', and equip it to your Masked Knight LV3. Now, during each of my Standby phases, I will take control of Masked Knight LV3 and it will be returned to you at the end of my turns." A rose mark appeared on the knight and was transferred to Akiza's side of the field. Hikari smiled at the move and watched Akiza ordered the Masked Knight LV3 monster to attack Randsborg , dropping his Life Points to 2850.

"Now I activate the spell card, 'Vengeful Servant', equipping it to Masked Knight LV3!"Akiza said, revealing her spell card. "Now, whenever Masked Knight switches to my control, you will receive damage equal to the original ATK of your monster. Now I end my turn." "Now I activate my face-down card, 'Level Change' to send my Masked Level LV3 to the Graveyard and special summon Masked Knight LV5 from my Graveyard." Randsborg said, after he received control back of his monster and his Life Points dropped to 1350. He did know that because of the Black Garden spell card, his Masked Knight LV5's 2300 was halved to 1150 while a Rose Token was special summoned to Akiza's side of the field.

As he drew a card for his turn, Randsborg smiled as he said, "I activate my Masked Knight LV5's effect, sending him to the Graveyard in order to special summon Masked Knight LV7!" Akiza glared at him as the effect of her Black Garden halved the 29000 ATK of Masked Knight LV7 to 1450 and a Rose Token was special summoned to Akiza's side of the field. Smiling at his powerful knight on the field, Randsborg said, "I equip the spell card, 'Glory Shield' to my Masked Knight LV7, and activate its effect to destroy any Spell or Trap card on the field. So I choose to destroy your 'Doppleganger' card."

Akiza gasped as the knight ran to her and destroyed her spell card and attacked one of her Rose Tokens, but it was not destroyed though Akiza did see her 2200 Life Points fall to 1550. Then Randsborg activated Masked Knight LV7 and had attack it again, Akiza gasped and gasped for air as her 1550 Life Points dropped to 50. 'Akiza… Hang in there, Aki.' Hikari thought, watching the duel and see Randsborg set a card on the field before ending his turn.

When her turn came, Akiza began to laugh and looked crazy when she looked at Randsborg. Hikari got ready to go out and comfort her, as Akiza drew her card. "I activate the effect of my Black Garden to destroy itself and all Plant-Type monsters on my field to special summon a monster from my Graveyard that has ATK equal to the combined ATK of my destroyed monsters." "But that means….." Luna said, surprised as she watched Akiza special summoned the Black Rose Dragon again onto the field.

"Now I activate the other effect of my Black Rose Dragon and change your Masked Knight LV7's ATK to 0 until the end of my turn. by removing Wall of Ivy from my Graveyard!" Akiza said, as her dragon roared again after it reappeared on the field. "Prepare to retire from service forever, knight! Black Rose Dragon, attack!" The Black Rose Dragon flew toward the Masked Knight LV7 and destroyed it, depleting the rest of Randsborg's Life Points, thereby making her the winner. Akiza remained in her crazed trance when Hikari shouted her name, snapping out of it, Akiza looked at what happened and ran back in, crying.

"Well, Angela?" Rex said, not looking on the high priestess when the duel ended. Angela told him, closing her eyes, "Nothing but I sense a great sorrow within her. Though that is about it." "Hmm, I see." Rex said, putting his hand on chin.

* * *

><p>And there you have it. Please, R&amp;R and pray that I don't take so long this time. Next chapter: Hikari comforting her friend, Yusei learn a bit about his opponent, a possible secret admirer for Yusei, the Turbo Duel for the match.<p> 


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